Last Day of School!

Unbelievably, the last day of school has finally arrived. After all the craziness of Exhibition, projects and tests, I should be thrilled to see the year end, but I actually have mixed feelings this year. Emily graduated 5th grade on Monday night and it was very bittersweet for me, as for all the parents in that auditorium, I'm sure. Elementary school, especially the one my children go to, is a very special place and time. Middle school is going to be a great adventure, but it also heralds the beginning of really growing up- and I'm clearly not ready, although they certainly are! OK, I have to quit that train of thought because I'm going to cry!

Although we contributed to the class gift instead of getting one of our own, I wanted to make a special card for each of my children's teachers. I have had this school themed paper hanging around for a few years waiting for the right card/scrapbook page and now seemed a good time. I love Heather Ellis' "Pure Innocence" and "Boy With Dog" illustrations, as you all probably know from all my posts using them! I bought two new ones recently and they were perfect for a boy and girl end-of-school card.

I was short on time, so I used the same layout and papers for both cards, but changed the details to make each one unique. I printed the digital stamps on Whisper White paper from Stampin' Up and colored them with Copic markers. For Emily's card, I die cut a scalloped border from More Mustard to frame the image and added some More Mustard ribbon, bronze brads and burgundy buttons for accents.

 Matthew's card is a bit simpler to avoid frilliness that boys don't like or appreciate-LOL! I used a combination of red and brown markers to make the burgundy color for the boy's sweater- a nice trick if you need a more muted shade than what you have. I used a white Uniball Signo pen to write on the "blackboard"- it's the only white pen on the market that actually works! The image and frame were die cut with more masculine shapes- no scallops, please Mommy! Bronze brads finish off the corners of both main layers.

I meant to get a picture of the inside before the kids wrote in them, but I wasn't fast enough! The inside was finished with layers of burgundy and white paper, a strip pf the same patterned paper and a die cut apple. The greeting is from the Stampin' Up "Thank You Kindly" set- it has four great thank you stamps in a variety of fonts- it's one I'll always keep around!

Time for me to get ready for the end of year picnics at school, then geared up for a busy night on call. Two last thoughts that I must keep reminding myself of when life gets busy- they are only little for a short while and take more pictures!!!

 




Supplies:
Stamps: Pure Innocence by Heather Ellis, Thank You Kindly- Stampin' Up
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Paper: "Homeroom" TPC Studio, Kraft, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, More Mustard
Accessories: Bronze brads, Sizzix machine, nested dies, Copic markers, More Mustard grosgrain ribbon, buttons